When Disney Infinity arrives this June it will consist of a game bundled with three figures: Jack Sparrow of Pirates of the Carribbean, Mr. Incredible of Pixar's The Incredibles, and Sully from Pixar's prequel, Monsters University. Each of those figures will have their own "Play Set," which is a specially designed gameplay setting just for that character. Jack Sparrow, for example, fights around his pirate ship, while Sully pranks Fear Tech with his friend, Mike Wazowski.

Each of these "Play Sets" are self-contained worlds, and only the figurines that come from there have access, so you won't see Mr. Incredible in the Carribbean. Disney made it clear during the presentation that some fans would rather not see universes mashed up, and have chosen to enclose character-specific mechanics, customization, and gameplay in their original realms.

The other side of the game, however, is the "Toy Box" mode, a sandbox area where all of the characters can meet up and go nuts together. In each of the Play Sets, players can earn stars and toys, which can then be brought back to the Toy Box, and even traded between characters. In the Toy Box, Jack Sparrow can make use of the Monsters' rideable pig, or Mr. Incredible can use Sparrow's pirate grenades. Disney's goal is to make anything possible while pushing all of its stories and settings together.

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Because I can,also because I don't care what you want.XBL: OriginalCeeKayWii U: CeeKay

Which is kind of annoying. What, was it too hard to just have the option to plenty through in story mode with the preset characters and still give people the choice to replay with whatever they want? That's how TT does it with their Lego games and it worked out just fine. Sure, the sandbox does part of that, but to what extent?

We'll see, they may have wanted the freedom to make drastically different powers for the new sets as they are released and not worry about making them work well with all the old content or break puzzles, etc. I think I'd prefer that approach with new content being fresh than things getting stale with the same few mechanics, if they are indeed doing that as they say.

You know, haiving a wife and kids that are really into skylanders, I was all set to buy into this Disney game....but then we all got a look at the prices! My god...they are CRAZY!

No way. We did have it preordered...but we canceled it and put the money on Skylanders Swap Force.

You mean the $13.99 per figure?

Not that much higher than Skylanders.....

Not so much the figure price....even though they are the same price as the Giants, not the regular Skylanders....it's the $35 "play sets" and the $5 power disc nonsense. I mean $5 for something and you don't even know what you are getting??

You know, haiving a wife and kids that are really into skylanders, I was all set to buy into this Disney game....but then we all got a look at the prices! My god...they are CRAZY!

No way. We did have it preordered...but we canceled it and put the money on Skylanders Swap Force.

You mean the $13.99 per figure?

Not that much higher than Skylanders.....

Not so much the figure price....even though they are the same price as the Giants, not the regular Skylanders....it's the $35 "play sets" and the $5 power disc nonsense. I mean $5 for something and you don't even know what you are getting??

The price for the playsets doesn't seem too terrible considering what you get. You're supposed to get about 7 hours worth of new content with each playset, two new characters, new toys for the toy box mode, plus the figures themselves.

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"Why did the chicken cross the Mobius strip? To get to the same side." - The Big Bang Theory

thats awesome. i never thought the logical extension of microtransactions would be consumer applauded macrotransactions, where you pay more than half the cost of the game itself, per level. after you buy the game.

and shame on disney for recruiting children to tug on their parents sleeves to get us to buy into this crap. oh wait, isnt that their entire business model? parental guilt? moooooooommiieieiieieieieieie!!!!

sorry, rant off - feel free to subject me to a counterrant about good parenting

Spyro doesn't have anything on Disney (except two Christmases), and the toybox mode is pretty sweet. I have ours pre-ordered, and I also have the Lone Ranger set sitting in my closet (from E3).

Skylanders was barely a Spyro game with the first release, and he was phased out for the second one.

My point was that Spyro was the launch point. No other character has any connection to anything outside of Skylanders proper (that I'm aware of - honestly, I've kept our household at arms length from the franchise).

We could have howard the duck racing against Wolverine in the toybox, bub. Willow and Luke fighting BOB and Goofy while riding on giant Apu's (as an elephant)? The fact is, this is a launch point for them, and since the system is modular in design, they are in the best position to execute this well, and be able to release new game modes and grow the Infinity system as the market dictates what it will bear.

Do I think they could screw it up? Yep - but it's unlikely. Seeing the care by which they craft the in-game models, the props, and all the toys, this isn't some lead-paint-knockoff product you're buying. It really is well thought out, and given that toybox designs are available to download, your kid doesn't need to build the SMB levels that people can make - they simply can download and enjoy it.

I'm not saying Skylanders is a better or worse game, or whether there will be competition - that's cool, and they were the first ones out. Trick is, they're not going to just be able to release a new set of statues and expect people to be OK with it - and the collector folks (kids, adults) are going to buy those $5 packs looking for the rare and ultra-rare pieces, and there is going to be trading going on which also adds to the product life cycle.

« Last Edit: August 02, 2013, 04:48:14 AM by Purge »

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"If it weren't for Philo T. Farnsworth, inventor of television, we'd still be eating frozen radio dinners." - Johnny Carson

I am interested a bit, looks like this could be fun, but I'm also holding back to see if they are going to do next gen versions. There might not be much difference but I'd rather grab the game for next gen instead of potentially double dipping.

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Because I can,also because I don't care what you want.XBL: OriginalCeeKayWii U: CeeKay

I am interested a bit, looks like this could be fun, but I'm also holding back to see if they are going to do next gen versions. There might not be much difference but I'd rather grab the game for next gen instead of potentially double dipping.

Yeah, that was my thoughts as well. It looks interesting, but if I'm going to invest in one of these games it would be for a next gen system.

I am interested a bit, looks like this could be fun, but I'm also holding back to see if they are going to do next gen versions. There might not be much difference but I'd rather grab the game for next gen instead of potentially double dipping.

Yeah, that was my thoughts as well. It looks interesting, but if I'm going to invest in one of these games it would be for a next gen system.

on the plus side it looks like everything beyond the game disc and possibly the device you put the discs/dolls will work on any console. all the Amazon listings for the playsets seem to say 'Not Machine Specific', but the initial investment for the game and thingamabob could still be pricey.

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Because I can,also because I don't care what you want.XBL: OriginalCeeKayWii U: CeeKay

I need to do further research. Gamestop told me yesterday that the portal and figures are not system specific. This means, if I am reading this right, that all you need to play on several systems in your home is the actual game for each system.

In other words I could buy the portal and starter set for the Wii U, and then later buy the game for the PS4 and still be able to use not only the portal but the figures and the little disc things for that system as well.

I need to do further research. Gamestop told me yesterday that the portal and figures are not system specific. This means, if I am reading this right, that all you need to play on several systems in your home is the actual game for each system.

In other words I could buy the portal and starter set for the Wii U, and then later buy the game for the PS4 and still be able to use not only the portal but the figures and the little disc things for that system as well.

Is this correct?

Skylanders figures are usable independent of console, but the portals are not. It seemed like there was a reason beyond money grab for this at the time, but the big consoles all use USB, so maybe not. Of course, the handhelds do not use USB, and I'm sure the thinking at the time was that many kids will be playing on their portable units. I'm not sure how that worked out. It's not exactly a portable game.

Disney now has the benefit of hindsight with where Skylanders succeeded or stumbled. And I don't see handheld versions, so maybe they are.

I need to do further research. Gamestop told me yesterday that the portal and figures are not system specific. This means, if I am reading this right, that all you need to play on several systems in your home is the actual game for each system.

In other words I could buy the portal and starter set for the Wii U, and then later buy the game for the PS4 and still be able to use not only the portal but the figures and the little disc things for that system as well.

Is this correct?

Skylanders figures are usable independent of console, but the portals are not. It seemed like there was a reason beyond money grab for this at the time, but the big consoles all use USB, so maybe not. Of course, the handhelds do not use USB, and I'm sure the thinking at the time was that many kids will be playing on their portable units. I'm not sure how that worked out. It's not exactly a portable game.

Disney now has the benefit of hindsight with where Skylanders succeeded or stumbled. And I don't see handheld versions, so maybe they are.

Here is the million dollar question though: will I be able to buy JUST the game and not another 75 dollar starter pack if I want to play on another system?

For the foreseeable future, you'll have to buy the start packs on the first generation. Perhaps later games that are backward compatible might have a disc-only SKU, but I highly doubt that you'll see it for the first year at least with the Infinity launch.